The Holy Crusaders might be out of reach but the Eagles think they can match up with just about everybody else in this new league especially since they were one of the few teams that has the size (they have a true seven footer of their own) and toughness of the league’s opponents including the boys from Annapolis.  Things did not go smoothly for Coach David Carrasco in his first year coaching as a promising season went off the rails with a series of unique incidences that ended with the team coming nowhere near their potential in wins and losses.   Carrasco does not always care about this and is much more about opportunities and processes than outcomes.  Carrasco and his boys did move the process of integration forward though it did cost his team some wins as the season progressed. The Eagles showed that they have a talented team and soon enough they might challenge for supremacy of their new league.   

 The fans of D. C. love the way junior forward Kermit Washington plays the game.  Perhaps the rest of the country might not concur because he has been classified as public enemy number one by some of his opponents.  But I guarantee you this there are not many coaches who would not like to have this kid fighting for every rebound and getting more than his fair share.  And this last season he started to even develop some sense of an offensive game besides put backs and give me layups and dunks.  Washington is a local kid from Coolidge High who was not heavily recruited and was a bit ahead of the entire John Thompson Hoya Paranoia push that has taken these parts by storm.  He would be a perfect complement to Ewing and company and would definitely fit in with that combative style of play.  When this six eight 230 pound beast decided to come to American this program had already set the precedent behind Carrasco of recruiting black inner city kids who other team’s had looked over. None of these kids were anywhere near the physical specimen that Kermit is and none had near the motor of this non-stop energizer bunny (that moniker fits better probably because of the huge chip on his shoulder like the spokesman did for them in the 80’s) in the paint.  Washington brings it all every time he steps out onto the court.  And then some!  Just ask anyone who ever played against him?  The first two years Washington has been in DC that was the type of player he was.  A physical presence who grabbed every rebound and made like for whoever he was guarding hell!  He scored some and his opponents knew his reputation and avoided going up against him like he had small pox.  He obviously was getting frustrated by getting overlooked as not only one of the best players in the country but playing in the DC area and the new Georgetown mania sweeping this ultra-urban area he was not getting his due around here either.  He was the first to realize that he was not a polished player and needed to improve his offensive game. Pete Newell had seen Washington play and saw something in this kid and decided to invite him to a camp he was starting to help post players develop.  Washington paid his own way last summer to go to Newell’s Big Man Camp and it had a huge impact on his game.  And his life!  He was playing against some of the best centers in the country but most importantly was getting the one on one tutelage from Newell who seemed to take this rough cut gem under his wing.  Newell might not have turned him a diamond and he sure does not have the on the blocks game of some of his others pupils such as Lew Alcindor (who bonded with Washington and the duo dominated the two on two games they played against others this summer).  There is only one guy who can pull off the sky hook like that but Washington did learn how to score with his back to the basket and even developed a little bit of a mid-range game though as much as he welcomes the contact in the paint he does not wander outside of it often.   He is the very definition of a power forward.  He is tough as nails and has a bit of a nasty streak.  He can also play a little basketball. He may be the best rebounder in the country for his size.  He will bang inside against anybody and will never back down from any opponent.  His desire for every basket that caroms off the boards makes him special.  He can play a little offense.  A good post player who is not overly gifted with moves, Washington once again relies on his tenacity to get the job done.   

While Washington is one of the most rugged post players in the country and is developing a more offensive game the Eagles still needed to fill out four other positions on the team and this proved to be difficult especially when the top offensive player on the team went down.  Sophomore Russell ‘Boo’ Bowers might not be the beast Washington is but he is one heck of an offensive weapon.  Bowers plays the small forward most of the time for the Eagles primarily because at six foot six he could handle the role on this team with limitations up front.  Bowers does of course fit nicely here but also has a game that would fit on a better team as a two guard.  Bowers can flat get to the hoop with the best of them and has all of the moves to finish the job when he gets there.  A good board man he helps out down low but honestly rebounding was not what this team lacked.  They needed a go to scorer and the 24 games Bowers played in he was that guy!  He gets double teamed often but has the great ability to divide the two guys guarding him with a great first step and an innate ability to always be going to the hole.  Bowers will also pull up from 15 to 18 feet and splash down a soft jumper over the heads of the less athletic guys guarding him. He is not quite a three point threat though he does not mind firing away from behind the arc.  Heck Boo does not mind firing away from the parking lot if he has the ball in his hands.  One of the weaknesses to his game is his dribbling which he needs to improve especially if he has any thoughts of playing at the next level like his sidekick almost for certainty will.  Like Washington’s bad rep for being a tough guy Bowers has a similar one holding him back for being a bit nonchalant especially in practice.  He got this playing in some All-Star games the summer before though per usual when he got on the court he lit up the scoreboard.  The coaches around here rave about the kid’s desire and work ethic and point out how he came back from the serious injury to help the team.  He is also an unselfish player who does not mind sharing the ball with his teammates.  Bowers averaged almost three assists a game though on this team his primary role was not passing but when you get double teamed as much as this kid you better know how to get the ball to the open teammate.  His primary role of course was to score and he did that with both style and consistency easily leading the team in that category.  As a matter of fact before his injury he was third in the Patriot League in scoring at almost 18 a game.  His ill-timed first comeback hurt that average quite a bit and he was not quite the player he was before when he made the late season comeback.  But the team needed him and he did come through.  How important was he?  Well the Eagles did not win any of the contest he missed and missed six games.  And most were lopsided affairs.  Bowers will be back this season hopefully at full strength and he will combine with Washington once again to give this program one of the best tandems on the entire East Coast.  Now they just have to win some more game to get the kind of recognition they deserve! 

The Eagles go into the season with the intent of playing some of the seniors that helped turn this team from a good D-2 school into a competitive D-1 program.  Foremost of these of course are Dickie Wells and Wil Jones.  These two trailblazers had to put up with the kind of atrocities no one should ever have to deal with. After all these are the first two African-American players to compete not only here but in the Mason-Dixie league this program was a member of in their D-2 days.  The trip to some cities was taking your life into your own hands and these two ate more meals in their rooms than Howard Hughes. The racial slurs and epitaphs they endured without ever striking back are a testament to their desire to not only get their degrees and break down some barriers.  Carrasco had recruited Wells specifically to be the first African-American player for the Eagles because he thought he could handle the nonsense and he did.  With Grace and dignity!  Wells was a heck of a board guy for those Eagles but unfortunately he was ‘too small’ for D-1 especially playing behind someone like Washington.  Speaking of being too small, Jones is a five foot nine shooting guard but somehow makes it work. That’s because he is one heck of a shooter.  And as we all know if you can shoot in today’s basketball you will play.  This kid could always shoot being one of if not the first star from legendary prep school Dunbar High after leading them to a city championship.  Once he heard Carrasco was recruiting black kids he was all in and joined Wells on their mission to play basketball at the college level in DC.  Jones did not lose of his NAIA glory (he once scored 54 at powerhouse Evansville in a D-2 tourney game) as he still proved he just might be ‘the best pure shooter to ever come out of Washington.’ He was first on the team in scoring at over 15 a game and was the Eagles primary long range bomber.   Jones used to be quite a penetrator as his nickname ‘the gunner with a million moves’ suggests.  Jones still holds the record for most free throws taken and made for the Eagles in a season in a career  where he tries to jump over six four guys and throw one down. The guys now are seven foot but I don’t see this ultra-confident street wise kid backing down from anyone.  Love to see him play against those Hoyas.  He also put up some big board numbers for a guy his size but that was against much weaker competition.  Now his game is all about shooting the rock and that is what he likes to do anyway.  But don’t be surprised when he flashed through the middle and elevates over the Admiral for a patented slam sometime this year. 

There is an entire crew of mid-sized players who at one point were the nucleus of a rather good D-2 team.  Wells of course was the primary board man but a group that included Leroy Ishman, Frank Weiss, Gordon Stiles and Ed Clements round out the team.  None of these guys got any real minutes this year as Carrasco and company realized rather quickly that these guys were not big enough or athletic enough to hang in this league.  Of course they were just role players even in the Colonial but at one point they were studs.  Weiss is a Brooklyn native who was a scoring machine trailing only Jones in his ability to put the ball in the hole.  Always known for his hustle Weiss is just overmatched as a wing player and there was no way he was playing in front of Willie or Boo though the fans wouldn’t have minded.  Ishman is a unique player who was a poorman’s Tom Gola with his ability to do everything on the court.  He is big enough to play the post and was a good board guy but was a terrific ballhandler and handled all of those duties for those early teams. ‘Ish’ has huge hands that made his dribbling, passing and rebounding seem effortless and was the only one of the group that got any considerable time though it did not last long.  Stiles is a terrific leaper and board guy but is only six three and was not going to play up front on this D-1 team and Clements was an all-around stud on campus who earned 10 varsity letters and played guard on this team scoring 37 points in a playoff game way back to propel the Eagles to a huge victory.  This foursome definitely has some skills but the problem was they resembled a certain rapper from Oakland with a moniker for his diminutive stature. 

Now for the other end of the spectrum:  Senior Art Beatty has one unique career for the Eagles as he gave this program something it had never had before: (like a white girl on her first trip to the ghetto)  Size!  This local kid from McKinley Tech in DC is a true seven footer and might have been the biggest coup as far as recruiting this program has ever had.  His coming to American was akin in the DC area of Big Lou choosing UCLA over St. John’s.  This was before Thompson turned the DC area into the land of Giants by recruiting ever seven footer he could find with a mean disposition.  Beatty does not have that!  But before he got here the center for the Eagles was six foot four and he was not African-American.  He came to this campus to get an education and knew basketball was his ticket to achieving his dream of becoming an interior designer.  Yep!  And isn’t that the way it should be!  Don’t get me wrong Beatty might be a bit softer than those monsters Big John unleashes on the Big East every night but this kid can play.  And when he gets tired of getting bounced around the gym he will let you know.  Beatty has been wildly inconsistent while at American having some huge games and seemingly playing better against similar or equal sized competition.  His two showdowns with Robinson over the last year have been must see as Art (the name sure fits his love) has held his own against the Admiral on every occasion.  He also however disappeared for entire games against smaller and less talented foe and never really played more than 20 minutes a game due to never really taking his conditioning that seriously.  He also missed too many games with a litany of minor injuries and though he was a good rebounder had the size and skills to be terrific if he had half the tenacity of his sidekick down low.  Beatty does guard the rim well especially in the Eagles zone defense though sometimes he does not get back in time and leaves the door open.  His scoring is limited though he does have a decent little hook shot he goes to.  Beatty could have a shot at the next level as seven footers do not grow on trees and even in the modern game size does sell but he must want it and to be honest this kid is interested is a much different world.  Big Art did start the trend of having seven footers on your roster in the DC area and you know what they say:  Once you go bla..er seven footer, you never go back!  There were several big men who got the opportunity to play with Beatty missing so much time though the Eagles were probably best when Washington played the five and there were four ‘perimeter’ players around him.  The two that got the biggest chance were Sophomore Ron Draper and senior Vincent Schaftmeister.  Both have the requisite size and demeanor and got ample minutes to show they do indeed have some upside.  Both can score and board though neither is going to be confused with Ewing or Mutombo on the defensive end.  

Point guard for the Eagles was a bit of an issue and ended up being almost a straight platoon between two sophomores who bring different styles and skills to the table.  Gordon Austin is a pass first guard who can run this offense, or any offense, with passion and precision.  He does not score much (barely had more points than assists) but his teammates love him for obvious reasons and is extremely gifted at breaking other team’s press.  He is a solid defender who loves to harass other guards like he gets harassed and led the team in steals.  His inability to hit shots put pressure on his teammates however and he was never even guarded beyond the arc as he was that bad of a three point shooter.  That was not a problem for his position sharing teammate Frank Ross.  Ross led the Eagles shooting over 40 percent from behind the arc and gave the team the kind of offensive punch at the point most teams lacked.  He was nowhere near the distributor Austin was though he was pretty much his equal defensively.  On another team Ross’s shooting might have gave him the edge but this team had one of the best shooters ever to come from DC as their main perimeter threat and with the advent of a freshman wing he was not quite as valuable as he should have been.  Still, the duo did split time almost evenly and that might just continue. Ironically both of these kids come from the same Jersey town of Linden.  

Juniors Wilbur Thomas and Calvin Brown are holdovers that will contribute.  Brown is an athletic wing that has never really got the shot he deserves and last year was no different with Bowers taking over the three. Thomas played most of the year as a swing forward and contributed with a well-rounded game and will continue to be the sixth man for the Eagles.  Thomas goes 6’6 and might be even tougher than Washington if that is even possible.  He is skinny as a rail however so floats down to the three quite often.  Sophomore Mark Nickens was in the same boat with Bowers stepping forward but he contributed some nice games and does have a future for the Eagles. 

The American Eagles are transitioning to a new league in hopes of finally getting some of their glory back from their D-2 days. There is much hope on this tiny campus as the Eagles have most of their players coming back including the two vanguards of the program.  The Eagles have some good young players to combine with the two junior studs that make them scary for any team to face especially in the Patriot League.  But to achieve what they want to do they will have to be on the court and do what they do!  Play tough and hard and win basketball games the American Way!